Factors Associated with Feeding Disorders in Infancy are not Affected by Feeding Disorder Type

Introduction: There is no accepted definition for pediatric feeding disorders (PFD), and knowledge of risk mechanisms associated with PFD remain scarce. We investigated factors associated with PFD and their relation to specific PFD types, according to the recent consensus WHO-based definition.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of children with PFD and retrieved their demographic and clinical characteristics. Healthy age- and sex-matched children, derived through social media networks, served as the control group.

Results: In total, 254 children with a median age of 16.4 (9.5-33) months at diagnosis were included. The control group included 108 children with a median age of 24.85 (14.5-28.5) months. According to the WHO definition, the disturbance in oral intake was predominantly related to medical conditions in 42 (16.7%), nutritional dysfunction in 118 (46.6%), feeding skills dysfunction 83 (32.3%) and psychosocial dysfunction in 11 (4.4%). Children with PFD had a higher risk for lower socioeconomic background (by cluster and indexes, p<0.01), preterm delivery (20.5% versus 5.6% for the controls, P<0.001) and multiple births (9.5% versus 2.8%, respectively, P<0.001). They also had a significantly lower mean birth weight (2992 gr versus 3255 gr, P<0.001). Significantly fewer children in the PFD group were breastfed (75% versus 89%% for the controls, P=0.003). There were no significant differences in any of those variables between PFD types.

Discussion: Sociodemographic and perinatal factors associated with PFD are not affected by the domain involved. Effort should focus on identifying children at risk for PFD in order to offer preventive and supportive care.